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TO THE 


4 . 


PEOl'LE OF MICHIGAN. 

The leaders of the Locofoco party in this State, convinced that the far¬ 
mers, mechanics, and working men of the country are opposed to Brit¬ 
ish FREE TRADE and in favor of trotection to American industry, have 
concocted a sclieme by which they hope to cheat the people into the sup¬ 
port of James K. Polk. 

^ Until within a few weeks, they have been loud mouthed in their oppo¬ 
sition to a Tariff for Protection. They have called the tariff law of 1842 
“ THE BLACK TARIFF.’’ They have abused and vilified Henry Clay, be¬ 
cause he was the father and great advocate of the American system. 
Their representatives in Congress have voted in favor of a bill which 
aimed a deadly blow at the interests of American labor. They have 
sought to make you believe that this country should depend on Great 
Britain for its manufactures of iron, wollen and cotton, and that your 
labor should stand unprotected against the pauper labor of countries 
where men work sixteen hours out of the twenty four, for ten or 
TWELVE cents a day. They have thus declared themselves to be, what 
they really are, the British free trade tarty —the uncompromising 
enemies of American labor—the friends of the British manufacturers— 
the foes of the American mechanic and farmer. 

But they have discovered that you can no longer be deceived—that the 
honest and intelligent farmers and mechanics of Michigan will not sup¬ 
port the false and pernicious doctrines of free trade—will not stab their 
own prosperity to the heart, and destroy the independence of their coun¬ 
try, by placing it back in the state of colonial vassalage to Great Britain^ 
from which our fathers rescued it—that they have determined that labor 
shall he -protected; that the law shall secure to industry its ju.st and fair 
1 ’eward.s. 

Seeing this and fearing to go before the people with doctrines equally 
hostile to the honor of the country and the prosperity of the jieo[j!..‘, they 
are now seeking to consummate by falsehood and deceit, thr* fmal suc¬ 
cess of their schemes to overthrow the tariff law q/'l842, an<i whh it, to 
prostrate for ever the system of protection. With a preconceived design 
to trample the interest of home industiy in the dust, they are pretending 
to be its friends. Aiming to stab your great interests to the heart, like 
the assassin that murders his victim even while whispering words of 
friendship in his ear, they seek to ruin you by counterfeiting a friend¬ 
ship for a protective tariff while in the very act of elevating to power its 
most deadly enemies—while moving hea\ en and earth for the election of 
James K. Polk, a southern British free trade abstractionist, to the presi¬ 
dency. 

Our object, fellow citizens, is to warn you against the wicked conspi 
racy to deceive and defraud you—this insidious attempt, hy Jalse preten¬ 
ces, to make you the instruments of overturning your own prospe dty, 
and we oHer to you proofs on this subjockwhich cannot be controverted 
or denied. 


Friends of the tariff, farmers and mechanics of Michigan, to whate¬ 
ver party you belong, read the proofs we offer, that the Lo'cofoco party 
IS THE British free trade party—that James K. Polk is the hitter and 
uncompromising enemy of American industry, while Henry Clay is its 
great advocate and defender. Be not deceived. Be not cajoled by party 
leaders, and impelled by mere party feeling into the support of measures 
to which you are honestly opposed. As you love your country and your 
own best interests, read, examine, and reflect for yourselves. Be not the 
bound slaves of party leaders, who would “steal the livery of Heaven to 
serve the devil in,’’ by pretending to be friends of the tariff, though at 
heart its deadliest enemies. 

The Locofoco party is the British free trade party. We ask your at¬ 
tention to the proof we offer of this undeniable fact. 

On this point it might seem sufficient merely to assert what, until a 
short time since, has been an admitted fact. But Locofocoism now de¬ 
nies her own doctrines, and we are called upon to fasten them upon her 
by proofs. The proofs we offer are extracts from her own party organs 
and the speeches and writings of her leaders. 

Our first extract is from the Washington Globe, the leading organ of 
the Locofoco party, and for many years the official paper of Mr. Van 
Buren’s administration. The Globe of August 30th, 1842, the very day 
the present tariff bill passed, says of it. “ This hill is utterly repugnant 
to the views of the whole democratic party.’’ 

Mr. Van Buren, whose authority as an exponent of Locofoco princi¬ 
ples cannot be doubted, on the 28th February, A. D. 1843, wrote of the 
present protective tariff law as follows: “ I have at no time, nor any 
where, hesitated to express my decided disapprobation of the tariff act of 
the last session, (the tariff law of 1842,) as well in respect to the prin¬ 
ciple on which it is founded, as to its details.” (See letter to Editor of 
Richmond Enquirer.) The principle here objected to and on which said 
act is founded, is the principle of protection. Could free trade doctrine 
be stated more explicitly? 

The Free Press, the official organ of the party in this state, in its pa¬ 
per of February 20th, 1844, calls the tariff act of 1842, “the black 
TARIFF.” The same paper of May 16, 1844, has the following in rela¬ 
tion to the conduct of certain Locofoco members of Congress who voted 
against taking up Mr. McKay’s British free trade bill—“We are glad 
to find our members in Congress voting right on the tariff bill. They 
have not, like some professed democrats from the other states proved re¬ 
creant to democratic principles.” Prove recreant to democratic princi¬ 
ples/ How 1 Why, by voting to sustain the tariff, and of course it fol¬ 
lows, that democratic principles are free trade principles. May 18, 1844, 
the same paper says, “ The pdople are discussing the tariff and becoming 
acquainted with the protective policy of the Whigs.” “ The tariff of 
1842 cannot long receive the support of a free people.” 

It appears from the journals pf Congress for May 10,1844, that Messrs. 
Hunt, McClelland and Lyon, (the three Locofoco representatives in Con¬ 
gress from this state, all voted in favor of taking up the tariff bill intro¬ 
duced by McKay at the la,st ifession of Congress, and with them voted 
ninety-five other Locofoco members of the House of Representatives, 
while every Whig in the House North and South, voted to lay Mr. Mc¬ 
Kay’s bill on the table. This bill, if passed, would have substantially 
repealed the present tariff law. It was substantially a free trade and 


3 


anti-protective lill, and yet vve find the Locofocos voting for it almost 
wnanimously and the Free Press praising our members for voting in its 
favor and branding the few Locofocos who voted against it as recreant to 
democratic principles. Is not this proof overwhelming Does it not 
show conclusively, that the party leaders are determined to destroy the 
tariff? 

John C. Calhoun, the great Locofoco leader at the South and a favor¬ 
ite candidate for the presidency, with many at the North, thus writes— 
“ I deny the right of Congress to impose any duty but for revenue, or to 
make any discrunination but on revenue principles.” Letter Sept. 24, 
1843. “ Under no circumstances shall I support any candidate who is 

opposed to FREE TRADE and in favor of the protective policy.” —:(Cal- 
houn^s Address to his political friends, Jan. 20, 1844.) And yet John 
C. Calhoun, the nullifying free trade man, does support James K. Polk. 
Comment is unnecessary. 

Thomas H. Benton, one of the great leaders of the party, thus states 
the issue for 1844. 

“ Most of the Whig Senators who have discussed this question, have, 
in an open, manly manner, admitted that the act of 1842 was a bill passed 
for Protection; that they advocated it because of its ample recognition of 
the Protective Principle; that is a favorite Whig measure, to which all 
other measures are subordinate and of secondary importance. This is 
fair, and places the issue between the parties upoii this subject to be de¬ 
termined by the American People—the Tariff Act of 1842, with its high 
duties and principle of Protection on the one side: and the advocates of 
low duties and an equal system oj taxation on the other. 

“ The question itself is noio on trial before the Areopagus of the peo¬ 
ple and must have its solution from that tribunal before we meet again. 
The Presidential Election involves the fate of the Tariff, and 
to that fate a future Congress will have to conform, be our action now 
what it may. Now, as in the year 1832, the fate of the high Tariff is 
staked in the person of its eminent champion—its candidate for the Presi¬ 
dency of the United States. That champion was defeated then, and his 
system icith him: and he may be defeated again.” 

The Richmond Enquirer, the organ of Southern Locofocoism, thus 
states the issue involved in this contest. 

“ The last letter from Henry Clay on the tariff, is dated on the 29th 
of June, addressed to Mr. Chope, of Pittsburg, in which he declares, “I 
have every where maintained, that in adjusting a tariff for revenue, dis¬ 
crimination ought to be made for protection; that the Tariff of 1842, has 
OPERATED MOST BENEFICIALLY, and that I AM UTTERLY OPPOSED 
TO ITS REPEAL. These opinions were announced by me at public 
meetings in Alabama, Georgia, Charleston, in South Carolina, North 
Carolina, and in Virginia.” The Coon presses claim to put him at is¬ 
sue with Mr. Polk on this ground, who declares in a letter to the citizens 
of Tennessee, of May 1843, and that “ I am opposed to the Tariff act of 
the last Congress.” WE ADMIT THE ISSUE, AND WILL BAT¬ 
TLE ON THIS GROUND AGAINST CLAY. 

Extracts innumerable from party papers, party resolutions, and party 
addresses, might be added, but we deem it unnecessary. We will simply 
add a few evidences drawn from our State, which clench the nail in this 
matter. 

Our first extract is from Governor Barry’s inaugural address, deliv- 


4 


ered in January, 1844. Read and inwardly digest Governor Harry\<; 
British Free Trade Doctrines : “ Manufactures sustained by the 
principle of protection^ are monopolies not less obnoxious than Banks.*^ 
“A Frotective Tariff oppresses the agriculturist.” “The idea of crea¬ 
ting a home market is absurd.” What think you of these doctrines, far¬ 
mers of Micliigan ? Governor Barry says, the idea of a home market is 
absurd; and yet out of 100 millions of bushels of wheat raised in this 
country in 1842, 93 millions were consumed at home ; and the single 
State of Massachusetts consumed more Western flour than all the for¬ 
eign COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. Is the home market an absurdity to 
you '? Without it, your wheat would not be w'orth twenty-five cents 

PER RUSIIEL. 

But it is time to introduce a second dose of Locofoco free trade doc¬ 
trines, and here we have it. From Report of Locofoco Committee on 
Agriculture and Commerce, made by Mr. Videtto, Chairman, to the last 
Legislature of Michigan, on January 22, 1844, read the following ex¬ 
tracts : 

“ The committee concur with the Executive in condemning the policy 
of a Protective TarffP “ They find in the Constitution, no jirovision 
authorizing Congress to impose duties on importations with a view to the 
protection of manufactures at homeP ‘-As regards the interests of Mich¬ 
igan, a tariff for the protection of manufactures, so far from contributing 
to her advantage, essentially depresses the sources of her improvement 
and industry.” “ It is apart of our policy.^ that no part of oiiir popula¬ 
tion should he diverted from Agricultural to Manufactur ing jmrsuiisF 

Here we have a summing up of Locofoco docti-ines, endorsed^as we 
shall see by the Free Press and all the other Locofoco organs. 'Phey 
are as follows : 

1. A Tariff for protection is unconstitutional. 

2. It is inexpedient. 

3. It is for the interest of the Farmers of Michigan, that every body 
should raise grain to sell. 

Mos;, sage conclusion ! Farmers of Michigan, carry out these princi¬ 
ples and .vho would buy your grain T There are 800,()()() manufactu¬ 
rers in tl;c United States, who buy your grain and raise nothing, l^oco- 
Tocoism would have them all turn farmers, that the great WTst might no 
longer have them the consumers of her wheat and flour. 

The Free Press of February 24, 1844, thus endorses these doctrines : 

“ The report of Mr. Videtto will stand the test of examination. It 
takes the right ground. It is based upon the best interests of the west, ’ 
and on those compromises in the Constitution which were established to 
satisfy every section of our country, and to ensure the duration of the 
Union.” 

And a Locofoco legislature orders five hundred copies of tlie Report 
printed. What say you to its doctrines, friends of the Tariff’? 

The following extract from 'the Free Press, the State paper, comes in 
opportunely. May 9, 1844, the Free Press says : “ The universal sen- 
timt n' of the Democratic party, from Maine to Georgia, is OPPOSI¬ 
TION to a Tariff based on protective principles.^'' 

Do you want more evidence, we have it ready for you—but before 
proceeding, we wish to call your attention to the fact that every Locofo- 
rn paper in the ^fate applauded Governor Banffs free trade message to 


the skies. Not a single murmur against it was heard. It was adopted 
as a true exponent of partij principles. 

With the following extract from the Constitution of the Democratic 
Association of the City of Detroit, we shall leave this branch of the sub¬ 
ject. The seventh article of that Constitution reads as follows : “ NO 

PROTECTIVE TARIFF.’’ This Association embraces among its 
members every prominent Locofoco in Detroit. Blon Farnsworth^ Ex- 
Chancellor, Attorney General of the Stale, and for^nerly Locofoco candi¬ 
date for Governor, as its President^ Anthony TenEyck^ Ezra Wil¬ 
liams and Henry N. Walker, all members of the Locofoco State Central 
Committee, have signed its Constitution. It was adoped at a large party 
meeting, held in the City Hall, and hundreds have signed it—all the 
friends of Polk and Dallas. “ No Protective Tariff.” Here we 
have it in black and white ; and on the strength of it, we proclaim to 
you that LOCOFOCOISM and FREE TRADE are ONE and the 
same thing in IMichigan, and throughout the Union. Deny it as they 
may, the brand adheres to them. They cannot shake it off. 

Fellow citizens, we now call your attention to the following extract 
from the speeches and writing of James K. Polk, which conclusively es¬ 
tablish the fact that he is opposed to the principle of protection, and loves 
the British Manufacturers better than the laborers of his own country. 
We give the extract from his speeches and writings in the order of time 
in which they were spoken or written. 

In the session of Congress of 18)12-33, he was chairman of the com¬ 
mittee of Ways and IMeans, and delivered a speech from which we take 
the following extract : “ The Wool-groivers consider the duty on foreign 

wool as important to their prosperity. This opinion I apprehend is found¬ 
ed in err or. 

“ MY OWN OPINION IS THAT WOOL SHOULD BE DUTY 
FREE.”—[Congressional Debate, Vol. 9, p. 1,194. 

Comment. —Under the influence of the present Whig Tariff, wool has 
risen at least Forty per cent, and the demand for it is steady and increas¬ 
ing, notwithstanding the large amount produced at the West. Destroy 
the Tariff in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Polk and his friends, and 
wool would not be worth raising. PYrmers think of this.— Troy Whig. 

Polk’s Address to the people of Tennessee, April 3, 1839, page 7. 

“ The great results of General Jackson’s administration belong to the history of th® 
country, and can be but briefly sketched or alluded to in an Address like this. In re¬ 
peated instances he recommended modifications and reductions of the Tariff, with a 
vicio to the final abandonment of that odious and unjust system. So effectual were these 
recommendations, and so rapid the change of public opinion, that the friends of the Ta¬ 
riff, and even Mr. Clay, its imputed father, seized on a favorable moment to save the 
whole from destruction by a timely compromise. It was the defence of Mr. Clay, with 
his friends at the North, that by yielding a part he prevented the destruction of the 
w’hole, and in their continued and devoted support of him, the Northern capitalists have 
shown that they are grateful for the fortunate rescue.” 

Here we have Mr. Polk’s opinion of the Tariff policy undisguised. 

‘‘ In repeated instances he (Gen. Jackson,) recommended modifications 
and reductions of the Tariff, with a view to the final abandonment of that 
ODIOUS AND UNJUST SYSTEM.” Again : “ So effectual were 
these recommendations, and so rapid the change of public opinion that the 
friends of the Tariff, and even Mr. Clay, its imputed father, seized on a 
favorable moment to save the ivhole from destruction by a timely compro¬ 
mise.^' 



6 


MU. POIiK AOAIiVST THE TARIFF. 

The following extract from a speech delivered by JAMBS K. POLK, 
before the people of Madison County, Tennessee, on the J3d day of April, 
1843, will show that he is and always has been an uncompromising op¬ 
ponent of a PROTECTIVE TARIFF : 

“ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COURSE OF THE POLITICAL 
PARTY WITH WHICH HE [Mr. Milton Bkown,] ACTS, AND MYSELF 
IS, WHILST THEY ARE THE ADVOCATES OF DISTRIBUTION AND 
A PROTECTIVE TARIFF—MEASURES WHICH I CONSIDER RUINOUS 
TO THE INTERESTS OF THE COUNTRY, AND ESPECIALLY TO THE 
INTERESTS OF THE PLANTING STATES—I HAVE STEADILY AND 
AT ALL TIMES OPPOSED BOTH!” 

MR. POLrK OjV the TARIFF. 

“ I am OPPOSED to the Tariff Act of the late Congress. I am in favor of RE- 
^^EALING that Act, and restoring the Compromise Tariff of March 2, 1833.”—[Re- 
ply to Citizens of Tennessee, May 15,1843. 

“I had steadily, during the period I was a Representative in Congress, been opposed 
TO A Protective Policy, as my recorded votes and published speeches prove. Since I 
retired from Congress, I have held the same opinions. In the present canvass for Gov¬ 
ernor, I had avowed my Opposition to the Tariff Act of the l^te Whig Congress, as be¬ 
ing highly Protective in its character, and not designed by its authors as a revenue meas¬ 
ure. I had avowed my opinion in my pnblic speeches that the interests of the country, 
and especially of the producing and exporting States, require its REPEAL !”— ILet- 
ter qf Mr. Polk to the People of Tennessee while a candidate for Governor. 

MR. POIiK. 

Winchester, May 20'> 1843. 

To the People of Tennessee: 

The object which I had in proposing to Governor Jones, at Carrollville, on the 12th of 
April last, that we sliould each write out and publish our views and opinions on the sub¬ 
ject of the Tariff, was, that our respective positions might be distinctly known and under¬ 
stood by the People. That my opinions were already fully and distinctly known, I 
could not doubt. I had steadily during the period I was a Representative in Con¬ 
gress BEEN opposed TO A PROTECTIVE PoLlCY, AS MY RECORDED VOTES AND PUBLISHED 
Speeches prove. Since I retired from Congress I had held the same opinions. In the 
present canvass for Governor, I HAD AVOWED MY OPPOSITION TO THE 
TARIFF ACT OF THE LAST WHIG CONGRESS, as being highly Protec¬ 
tive in its character, and not designed by its authors as a revenue measure. I had avow¬ 
ed my opinion in my public speeches that the interests of the country, and especially of 
the producing and exporting States—REQUIRED ITS REPEAL, and the restora¬ 
tion of the principles of the Compromise Act of 1833. JAMES K. POLK. 

James K. Polk was nominated and is supported as a Free Trade man. 

The following resolutions were passed at a meeting of the friends of 
James K. Polk, at Edgefield, South Carolina : 

“ Resolved, That in James K. Polk we recognize an able, bold advocate of immediate 
Annexation of Texas, and a firm and consistent opponent of a Protective Tariff, Assump¬ 
tion of State Debts, and Abolition ; and that, therefore, we cordially approve of his nom¬ 
ination, and pledge ourselves to his support. 

“ Resolved, That the Tariff Act of 1842 is liable to all the objections we have here¬ 
tofore made to the constitutionality and expediency of the measures of the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment for the protection of Domestic Manufactures, with the aggravation that it was 
a gross breach of the faith plighted to us in the Compromise of 1832; and that we regard 
the time and measure of our resistance to this act as matters to be settled upon our own 
views of expediency, in no wise to be hindered by our supposed allegiance to the Fede¬ 
ral Government.” 

The New York Evening Post, a leading advocate of Polk, thus 
speaks : 

“In supporting Mr. Polk we take the only method of procuring a repeal of the present 
unjust Tariff, though the Whigs declare their determination of maintaining it as it is, 
with all its oppressions and abominations.” 


7 


The New York Plebeian, the organ of tlie party in New York City, 
says ; 

“ The opinions of Governor Polk do not require to be changed to meet contingencies. 
Whether the present Tarifl’brings $10,000,000 or $50,000,000 annually, HE IS OP¬ 
POSED TO IT !” IP » 

The Nashville Union, the organ of Polk and Jackson, holds the fol¬ 
lowing language : 

“ We wish it borne in mind, that the oppressive Tarifl* of 1842 has been condemn¬ 
ed by every true Democrat, and by none more decidedly than Mr. Van Buren. THAT 
ITS PROVISIONS ARE VIEWED WJTH ABHORRENCE BY GOVERN¬ 
OR POLK AND ALL HIS FRIENDS WE NEED NOT REPEATT 

JAMES K. POIiK?S VOTES. 

Jan. 17,1827, Mr. Mallory, of Vermont, reported a bill for the better protection of 
wool and woolens, and made an elaborate speech in its support. Mr. Cambereleng, of 
N. Y. fLocofoco J immediately rose and avowed FREE-TRADE DOCTRINES and 
commenced a war upon the bill. Mr. Polk voted AGAINST the bill throughout.— 
Cong. Deb. to13, pages 986,996,1027, 1028,1087, 1098, 1099. 

Jan. 31, 1828, Mr. Mallory of Vermont, reported the famous TarifTbill of 1828, giv¬ 
ing increased protection to wool, woolens, and other branches of domestic industry. 
Mr. Polk went with the enemies of the bill and voted against it— Same, vol. 4, part 2, 
pages 2348, 2472. 

April 15, 1830, Mr. Mallory reported a bill to prevent frauds in the importation of for¬ 
eign products, and enforce the tariff of 1828. Mr. Polk voted AGAINST the bill.— 
Same, vol. 6, part2, pages 979, 987. 

Dec. 14, 1830, Mr. Barringer introduced a resolution TO REDUCE the duly on 
coarse wool, wollens, sugar, &c., and on the question of consideration, Mr. POLK voted 
in the AFFIRMATIVE. 

James K. Polk’s supporters are opposed to the Tariff men. He was 
f->rought forward by Free Trade men. Calhoun and McDuffie, Free 
hTrade nulHjiers, are his warmest supporters. These men threaten to dis- 

live the Union unless they can have Free Trad^ and yet they support 
^ ^olk. 

Every where at the South the motto of the party is—POLK, TEXAS 
AND FREE TRADE ; and every where at the North it has been so 
until the leaders have discovered that the people will not swallow the poi¬ 
sonous dose. 

We might add to this overwhelming evidence of Mr. Polk’s Free Trade 
principles ; but we feel that it is unnecessary. His whole public career 
has evinced his hostility to Protection. His writings, his speeches, and 
his votes, all establish the fact beyond all controversy. JAMES K. 
POLK IS A BRITISH FREE TRADE MAN. Is it not demonstra¬ 
ted? 

It is to HENKY CLAY, the Father of the American system, you 
must turn if you would secure protection for your labor—a market for 
your produce, and independence for your country. 

For forty years he has been the friend of the laborer—the advocate in 
Congress, of the rights and interests of American labor ; and he is yet 
its friend. If you doubt it, read the following frank and noble letter 
written June 29th, 1844 : 

MU. CEAY. 

Ashland, June 29, 1844. 

Dear Sir :—I have received your favor, stating that our political op¬ 
ponents represent me as being a friend of protection at the North, and 
for Free Trade at the South ; and you desire an expression of my opin¬ 
ion, under my own hand, for the purpose of correcting this misrepresen- 



B 


lation. I am alVaid that you will rind the elibrt vain to correct misrepre¬ 
sentations of me. Those who choose to understand my opinions can have 
no diriiculty in clearly comprehending them. I have repeatedly expres¬ 
sed them as late as this spring, and several times in answer to letters 
from Pennsylvania. My opinions, such as tliey are, have been recently 
quite as freely expressed at the South, as I ever uttered them at the North, 
i have every where maintained^ that in adjusting a Tariff for revenue, 
discriminations ought to be made for Protection: That the Tarfff op 
1842 HAS OPERATED MOST BENEFICIALLY, and that I AM UTTERLY 
OPPOSED TO ITS REPEAL. These opinions were announced by 
me at public meetings in Alabama, Georgia, Charleston, in South Caro¬ 
lina, North Carolina, and in Virginia. 

I am yours, &;c., H. CLAY. 

F. J. Cope. 

PI very where, from Maine to Georgia, the whig motto is— Henry Clay 
and Protection to American industry. ( m this ground and on this issue 
they are now contending. Electors of Michigan the Tariff is at stake 
in this contest. Choose ye, choose ye, between James K. Polk and Bri¬ 
tish free trade on the one hand, and Henry Clay and protection to 
LABOR on the other. 

He is with you, farmers of Michigan—with all who seek to live by 
honest industry. Ever the true patriot and tried friend of his country, 
he is yet ready to raise his voice in defence of the rights of the Ameri¬ 
can LABORER. He goes for the Union as it is, and looking Jp all the 
interests of this great confederacy, he deems it to be the duty of the go¬ 
vernment to protect all. He believes that if we support a anvy for th' 
protection of commerce, an Army to sustain our national honor and d^.. 
defend our soil—a Judiciary to protect the right of property, and to thro I 
its shield over capital—we should with equal justice, throw over industry- 
over the farmer and manufacturer,the broad shieldi protection againsi 
the hostile competition of foreign labor. 

Fellow citizens, in the name of our common country, by all that we ; 
value in the institutions of our fathers, and as you love your own inte¬ 
rests, we warn you to be on your guard—we beseech you to defend the 
American system against not only the assaults, but the insidious ap¬ 
proaches of its opponents. The election op HENRY CLAY can 
alo.ne save Tiir. Tariff. In voting for Polk you will but sign the death 
warrant of domcsiic industry, and condemn yourselves, your children, ’ 
and your country (o the direst evils. • ■ 

Detroit, August 20, 1844. 

JACOB M. HOWARD, 

FISHER A. HARDING, 

SAMUEL BARSTOW, 

JOHN OWEN, 

DAVID SMART,- 

State Central Committee. 


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